The New York Post was the first to report on Monday that Charlie Kirk sent a letter to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 2nd of this year, and basically warned him that Israel was losing the public relations war, specifically focusing on social media, and specifically Gen Z.
Kirk wrote, "“Everything written here is from a place of deep love for Israel and the Jewish people. I think it's important to be brutally honest with those you love. In my opinion Israel is losing the information war and needs a 'communications intervention'."
If you have been reading, watching or listening to the press coverage of the war in Gaza, post October 7, 2023, it should come as no surprise that public opinion has been turning against Israel, even in this country. Poll after poll has shown this to be the case, and the latest findings by The New York Times and Siena University, show that more Americans back the Palestinians for the first time since this particular poll began monitoring support in 1998.
It's a statistical dead heat, so to speak, with 35% supporting the Palestinians and 34% supporting Israel. How can this be? Israel was attacked by a vicious terrorist group, Hamas, who killed more than 1200 innocent Israelis, mostly civilians, many in the most gruesome manners imaginable. Hamas took more than 240 hostages and still hold over 40 of them, with about 20 believed to still be alive. Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, and their leaders have said that their sacrifice is necessary to achieve Hamas's goals. So how can public opinion here be against Israel? Charlie Kirk believed that he had some answers.
Kirk laid out a seven point plan to help combat the problem. "For starters, you need a rapid response media team", he wrote, noting how Stephen Miller and Karoline Leavitt do a great job for Donald Trump. He recommended, "Putting together a team of pro-Israel experts who can fact-check misinformation in real time from Israel." He suggested an Israel Truth Network where, "All the negative Israel questions I get (from students) can be thoroughly debunked."
Kirk also suggested having some of the former hostages go on a speaking tour in the U.S., and suggested interviewing all walks of Israeli citizens on the streets of the country talking about what they love about Israel, and do a better job explaining the Iranian threat.
Finally Charlie Kirk told Netanyahu that, "A paradigm shift is needed in how Israel presents itself to the world especially on social media", and suggested Israel think of itself as a political candidate, trying to convince those on social media why Israel should get their vote.
According to Israfan, "Netanyahu reportedly responded to the letter just eight days before Kirk was killed, acknowledging the urgency of the message and affirming Israel’s efforts to fight back against propaganda and misinformation."
Make no mistake, this situation is not new. Israel has been losing the media war for decades for a whole bunch of reasons. Netanyahu got some invaluable advice from one of Israel's greatest supporters, For their own good, they need to honor Charlie Kirk, and get moving on it.
